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Canal Catastrophe
New Orleans Industrial Canal $532 million

"This $641 million project would be one of the most expensive locks ever built." Washington Post, September 10, 2000.

The New Orleans Industrial Canal is a 5.5-mile waterway that connects the Mississippi River to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, an inland canal that runs along the Gulf coast from Texas to Florida. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) plans to widen, deepen and expand the canal's lock to nearly triple its current size at a cost of $641 million, of which taxpayers will pay 83 percent, or $532 million.

Green Scissors Proposal
Deny funding to widen, deepen or expand the New Orleans Industrial Canal, saving taxpayers 83 percent of $641 million over the life of the project, or $532 million.

Current Status

The project received approximately $14.3 million in the fiscal year 2001 Energy and Water Appropriations bill (H.R. 4635). Representative William Jefferson (D-LA) is a strong proponent of the canal

Project Hurts Taxpayers

The Corps justified the project by predicting sharp increases in barge traffic on the Canal and a need to fix antiquated locks. According to the Corps' own numbers, however, shipping on the canal has decreased 28 percent, from 27.1 million tons in 1988 to 19.4 million tons in 1999. By contrast, the Corps estimates that the alternative to lock expansion, rehabilitating the lock, would cost only $16 million.

The Corps has stated that, as long as barge traffic does not fall 10-15 percent below low-growth traffic forecasts, the project's benefit-cost ratio would remain at or above 1.0. However, Corps statistics show that traffic has declined 17 percent since 1993, below the threshold for a positive benefit-cost ratio. The Corps' own guidelines recommend that projects with a benefit-cost ratio of less than 1.0 to 1 not be constructed.


Project Hurts the Environment

The project would not solve existing safety problems with the lock. The canal has a long history of accidents and chemical spills, as more than a third of all industrial chemicals transported on the nation's inland waterway system are shipped through the New Orleans Industrial Canal. The National Transportation Safety Board considers the existing lock and canal to be risky and has stated that lock expansion "would not necessarily reduce the hazards." The problem of accidents is compounded by the fact that the project lies immediately downriver of Algiers Point, widely considered to be the most dangerous bend on the entire Mississippi River.

Continued dredging of the canal resuspends sediments that contain high levels of heavy metals. Disposal of these sediments on and near wetlands would further contaminate nearby waters.

The project also raises serious environmental justice and community right-to-know questions. The Corps initially considered locating the new lock and canal several miles downstream in the sparsely populated St. Bernard Parish. This plan was eventually dropped because of extreme political opposition from local residents. The project is now proposed in New Orleans' Ninth Ward, a less politically influential area. Despite high levels of political opposition in the neighborhoods of this ward, the Corps has failed to consider locating the project elsewhere.

Contacts

• Jeff Stein, Taxpayers for Common Sense, (202) 546-8500 x129.
• Aaron Viles, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Gulf States Organizer, (504) 525-0557.
• Tommy Milliner, Tulane Environmental Law Clinic, (504) 862-8819.
• Pam Dashiell, Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, (504) 947-9240.